What can you get ‘for free’ to virtually wish Linux lovers a happy holiday season? How about a hat tip to Tux, the cute little iconic penguin mascot representing free and open source Linux? This Tux probably is not your grandma’s penguin. Here’s Tux as seen traveling and bashing shells ‘in the wild.’ Cats and dogs love Tux. In fact, there are tributes to the Tux mascot via food, toys, and even from a few future Linux hacker babies. Tux inspires art like digital wallpapers as well as Tux graffiti. We’ll toss in a few interesting Linux facts and hopefully dear Linux lovers, you will at least smile and remember that it’s the thought that counts? Smile and have a great day! [69 Pics]

Tux in A Holiday Dream. Unless your granny bashes shells, then this is probably not your grandma’s penguin. Once upon a time, James Hughes called this penguin “Tux;” he said that it stood for “(T)orvalds (U)ni(X).” This is Tux the penguin, the official mascot for Linux. There are many different Linux distributions, a bit like operating system flavors, that utilize the Linux kernel, but even if displayed in various styles, Tux is iconic for Linux distros and free, open source software. Photo #1 by LaserGuided